Potential drug target validation involves determining whether a DNA, RNA or protein molecule is implicated in a disease process and is therefore a suitable target for development of new therapeutic drugs. Drug discovery, the process by which bioactive compounds are identified and characterized, is a critical step in the development of new treatments for human diseases. The landscape of drug discovery has changed dramatically due to the genomics revolution. DNA and protein sequences are yielding a host of new drug targets and an enormous amount of associated information.
The identification of genes and proteins involved in various disease states or key biological processes, such as inflammation and immune response, is a vital part of the drug design process. Many diseases and disorders could be treated or prevented by decreasing the expression of one or more genes involved in the molecular etiology of the condition if the appropriate molecular target could be identified and appropriate antagonists developed. For example, cancer, in which one or more cellular oncogenes become activated and result in the unchecked progression of cell cycle processes, could be treated by antagonizing appropriate cell cycle control genes. Furthermore many human genetic diseases, such as Huntington's disease, and certain prior conditions, which are influenced by both genetic and epigenetic factors, result from the inappropriate activity of a polypeptide as opposed to the complete loss of its function. Accordingly, antagonizing the aberrant function of such mutant genes would provide a means of treatment. Additionally, infectious diseases such as HIV have been successfully treated with molecular antagonists targeted to specific essential retroviral proteins such as HIV protease or reverse transcriptase. Drug therapy strategies for treating such diseases and disorders have frequently employed molecular antagonists which target the polypeptide product of the disease gene(s). However the discovery of relevant gene or protein targets is often difficult and time consuming.
One area of particular interest is the identification of host genes and proteins that are co-opted by viruses during the viral life cycle. The serious and incurable nature of many viral diseases, coupled with the high rate of mutations found in many viruses, makes the identification of antiviral agents a high priority for the improvement of world health. Genes and proteins involved in a viral life cycle are also appealing as a subject for investigation because such genes and proteins will typically have additional activities in the host cell and may play a role in other non-viral disease states.
Viral maturation involves the proteolytic processing of the Gag proteins and the activity of various host proteins. It is believed that cellular machineries for exo/endocytosis and for ubiquitin conjugation may be involved in the maturation. In particular, the assembly, budding and subsequent release of retroid viruses, RNA viruses and envelop viruses, such as various retroviruses, rhabdoviruses, lentiviruses, and filoviruses may involve the Gag polyprotein. After its synthesis, Gag is targeted to the plasma membrane where it induces budding of nascent virus particles.
The role of ubiquitin in virus assembly was suggested by Dunigan et al. (1988, Virology 165, 310, Meyers et al. 1991, Virology 180, 602), who observed that mature virus particles were enriched in unconjugated ubiquitin. More recently, it was shown that proteasome inhibitors suppress the release of HIV-1, HIV-2 and virus-like particles derived from SIV and RSV Gag. Also, inhibitors affect Gag processing and maturation into infectious particles (Schubert et al 2000, PNAS 97, 13057, Harty et al. 2000, PNAS 97, 13871, Strack et al. 2000, PNAS 97, 13063, Patnaik et al. 2000, PNAS 97, 13069).
It is well known in the art that ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis is the major pathway for the selective, controlled degradation of intracellular proteins in eukaryotic cells. Ubiquitin modification of a variety of protein targets within the cell appears to be important in a number of basic cellular functions such as regulation of gene expression, regulation of the cell-cycle, modification of cell surface receptors, biogenesis of ribosomes, and DNA repair. One major function of the ubiquitin-mediated system is to control the half-lives of cellular proteins. The half-life of different proteins can range from a few minutes to several days, and can vary considerably depending on the cell-type, nutritional and environmental conditions, as well as the stage of the cell-cycle.
Targeted proteins undergoing selective degradation, presumably through the actions of a ubiquitin-dependent proteosome, are covalently tagged with ubiquitin through the formation of an isopeptide bond between the C-terminal glycyl residue of ubiquitin and a specific lysyl residue in the substrate protein. This process is catalyzed by a ubiquitin-activating enzyme (E1) and a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2), and in some instances may also require auxiliary substrate recognition proteins (E3s). Following the linkage of the first ubiquitin chain, additional molecules of ubiquitin may be attached to lysine side chains of the previously conjugated moiety to form branched multi-ubiquitin chains.
The conjugation of ubiquitin to protein substrates is a multi-step process. In an initial ATP requiring step, a thioester is formed between the C-terminus of ubiquitin and an internal cysteine residue of an E1 enzyme. Activated ubiquitin may then be transferred to a specific cysteine on one of several E2 enzymes. Finally, these E2 enzymes donate ubiquitin to protein substrates, typically with the assistance of a C3 protein, also known as a ubiquitin enzyme. In certain instances, substrates are recognized directly by the ubiquitin-conjugated E2 enzyme.
It is also known that the ubiquitin system plays a role in a wide range of cellular processes including cell cycle progression, apoptosis, and turnover of many membrane receptors. In viral infections, the ubiquitin system is involved not only with assembly, budding and release, but also with repression of host proteins such as p53, which may lead to a viral-induced neoplasm. The HIV Vpu protein interacts with an E3 protein that regulates IκB degradation, and is thought to promote apoptosis of infected cells by indirectly inhibiting NF-κB activity (Bour et al. (2001) J Exp Med 194:1299-311; U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,425). The ubiquitin system regulates protein function by both mono-ubiquitinotin and poly-ubiquitinotin, and poly-ubiquitinotin is primarily associated with protein degradation.
The vesicular trafficking systems are the major pathways for the distribution of proteins among cell organelles, the plasma membrane and the extracellular medium. The vesicular trafficking systems may be directly or indirectly involved in a variety of disease states. The major vesicle trafficking systems in eukaryotic cells include those systems that are mediated by clathrin-coated vesicles and coatomer-coated vesicles. Clathrin-coated vesicles are generally involved in transport, such as in the case of receptor mediated endocytosis, between the plasma membrane and the early endosomes, as well as from the trans-Golgi network to endosomes. Coatomer-coated vesicles include coat protein I (COP-I) coated vesicles and COP-II coated vesicles, both of which tend to mediate transport of a variety of molecules between the ER and Golgi cisternae. In each case, a vesicle is formed by budding out from a portion of membrane that is coated with coat proteins, and the vesicle sheds its coat prior to fusing with the target membrane.
Clathrin coats assemble on the cytoplasmic face of a membrane, forming pits that ultimately pinch off to become vesicles. Clathrin itself is composed of two subunits, the clathrin heavy chain and the clathrin light chain, that form the clathrin triskelion. Clathrins associate with a host of other proteins, including the assembly protein, AP180, the adaptor complexes (AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4), beta-arrestin, arrestin 3, auxilin, epsin, Eps15, v-SNAREs, amphiphysins, dynamin, synaptojanin and endophilin. The adaptor complexes promote clathrin cage formation, and help connect clathrin up to the membrane, membrane proteins, and many of the preceding components. AP1 associates with clathrin coated vesicles derived from the trans-Golgi network and contains γ, β1, μ1 and σ1 polypeptide chains. AP2 associates with endocytic clathrin coated vesicles and contains α, β2, μ2, and σ2 polypeptides. Interactions between the clathrin complex and other proteins are mediated by a variety of domains found in the complex proteins, such as SH3 (Src homology 3) domains, PH (pleckstrin homology) domains, EH domains and NPF domains. (Marsh et al. (1999) Science 285:215-20; Pearse et al. (2000) Curr Opin Struct Biol 10(2):220-8).
Coatomer-coated vesicle formation is initiated by recruitment of a small GTPase (eg. ARF or SAR) by its cognate guanine nucleotide excahnge factor (e.g. SEC12, GEA1, GEA2). The initial complex is recognized by a coat protein complex (COPI or COPII). The coat then grows across the membrane, and various cargo proteins become entrapped in the growing network. The membrane ultimately bulges and becomes a vesicle. The coat proteins stimulate the GTPase activity of the GTPase, and upon hydrolysis of the GTP, the coat proteins are released from the complex, uncoating the vesicle. Other proteins associated with coatomer coated vesicles include v-SNAREs, Rab GTPases and various receptors that help recruit the appropriate cargo proteins. (Springer et al. (1999) Cell 97:145-48).
It would be beneficial to identify proteins involved in one or more of these processs for use in, among other things, drug screening methods.